1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for positioning a magnetic head with respect to various tracks of a magnetic tape in a streamer. The magnetic head is coarsely stepped to a desired track of the tape, and then finely positioned by at least one piezoelectric element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional arrangements for positioning a magnetic head over various tracks of a magnetic tape can include the use of a comparator for determining the actual position of a read/write head, and a stepper motor for positioning the read/write head with respect to a particular track of a magnetic tape. Such an arrangement is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,104 to Dahlerud. However, such a conventional arrangement is only suitable for a limited number of tracks, for example 20 tracks, on the same magnetic tape.
However, where a magnetic tape contains as many as 144 data tracks and 24 servo tracks, travelling from the upper edge of the tape to the lower edge of the tape with the a single channel magnetic head is extremely difficult, given spatial constraints.